Supply Lines
by Spirit Adept
Summary: Not everything important happens during battle. A collection of short stories detailing the day to day interactions of Eliwood's army off the battlefield.
1. Trenches

It is a common misconception that wars are won by strength alone. All too many young men and women have jumped at the chance to take part in battle for fame and fortune, believing that all they needed to succeed was a good sword arm, a fine weapon, and the endless passion that dwelt in their heart. Some of these unfortunate souls found their end on the end of someone's spear but all too often their doom was spelled out by things far more mundane. A lack of proper gear lead them to perish in the night from exposure. Untreated wounds festered and turned to illness. Thirst and hunger have killed far more than any one nation's armies.

Those who truly know war, the ones who have lived through or studied many a campaign know that there is more to battle than simple manpower. Terrain can allow a smaller force to entrench and survive the onslaught of a bigger force. Well rested and emboldened troops can smash through the ranks of a tired and demoralized column. A camp stocked with medical supplies and healers can return more soldiers to the field than one without. In war, armies live and die by their ability to support and provide for their people.

It is for this reason that Eliwood had taken to digging a small trench in the ground some distance away from where his army had made camp for the day. Not one that would be used to fortify their position, nor would it be used to set traps for incoming enemies.

Eliwood dug this trench for the simple fact that his army required a place to poop.

That it was Eliwood who toiled away at this chore was unusual, but not unexpected given the circumstances. In the early days of his journey, a proper latrine trench was unnecessary. The few men (and Rebecca) that the young lord had assembled were more than capable of taking care of their business on their own. There were not so many of them that they would have to clammier for privacy. This changed as more and more people joined their cause. Once a dozen or so had joined up it was no longer feasible to continue on without some form of organization. Latrine ditches didn't dig themselves though, it was a task that needed to be assigned to someone.

Normally, the solution was to make the knights do it. They were actually being paid to be here having sworn themselves to their lord or lady. And on any other day that's how it would have worked without any issues. However, some problems presented themselves that made all of the knights unavailable. Today's battle had resulted in more casualties than normal, which meant that Oswin had to devote his full attention to setting up the camp instead of helping others. Marcus was escorting Merlinus into town to help round up some supplies to tend to the injured. Lowen was busy preparing for a much needed dinner, that being whatever Wil and Rebecca were able to find on their hunt. Kent and Sain were among those who were too badly injured to help keep watch and had to be replaced by Florina for the time being.

And so it was that young Eliwood was left with only one option. He took off his armor, donned a simple tunic, grabbed a shovel, and began digging. For a time the task, while exhausting, was peaceful.

For a time...

"I've often heard people use the phrase 'digging themselves deeper', but I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be rhetorical." Hector's jovial voice boomed from behind Eliwood. The young lord simply sighed and continued with tossing dirt off to the side without turning around to look at his friend. He didn't have to in order to picture the ear to ear grin that he was sure was on Hector's face. It was to be expected, Eliwood know that his friend wouldn't be able to resist a jab or two at him.

"Can you imagine what they'd say at court if they could see this now? Especially that dink Erik, I can already hear his voice." Hector proceeded with the same tone Eliwood heard everyone use when making fun of a noble. "Perfect Eliwood deigned to touch peasant tools and perform manual labor like some sort of commoner? Servants, bring me my finest pantaloons! My time has come to upstage that soft-hearted buffoon!" Hector punctuated the final remark with painfully fake laughter and Eliwood couldn't help but smile slightly. Given that they had finished fighting Erik and learning his true opinions mere days ago a slight bit of mockery at his expense was amusing. The boy deserved it...

"Tell me, Hector, have you considered giving up the life of a lord to become a jester? Hector the Fool, with wit as sharp as a hammer." Hector let out a snort and Eliwood could practically feel him roll his eyes at him. The Pheraen lord knew that it was somewhat of a low blow to compare Hector to a court jester, as so many others before him were apt to do. But Eliwood would rather face his wrath than his jokes at the moment.

Fortunately one of Hector's many redeeming values was being able to read between the lines in conversations like this and not get angry. Unfortunately he still had an agenda to follow.

"Well if you're going to be like that, maybe you'd rather take a few swings at me to vent a little bit. Come on, you have to admit that it _is_ silly for a lord to be digging an outhouse like this when you have an entire army to do it for you."

"It may be my army but they aren't my knights." Eliwood shook his head as he responded and tossed another shovel full of dirt onto the growing pile. "It's not fair for me to ask them." Even as a lord, who was he to force volunteers to do anything when they so willingly put their lives on the line for the sake of finding his own father?

"Life isn't fair, if they're part of an army they should get used to that. You have more important things to do anyways, like figuring out how we're going to find a way to the Dread Isle. We have plenty of able bodied men who can do this instead. Like right over there, it's that mercenary that works for Lyn and all he's doing right now is talking to his girlfriend. I think it's time he earned his pay."

Eliwood looked around until he saw Raven leaning against a tree and conversing with Lucius. "Wait… He isn't a..." As much as Eliwood would have enjoyed teasing Hector for something like this, he did not feel like getting into this conversation again today. Not after getting into an argument with Merlinus when he requested a count of everyone he needed to purchase supplies for. Instead he decided on a different course of action to silence his friend.

"You know what? You're right Hector. You do have a few vassals besides Oswin after all, why don't you call Matthew and Serra over here to help out?" Hector responded with a sound somewhere between frustration and embarrassment as Eliwood found himself smiling again. He knew that for all his bluster, Hector was no better at ordering around his own people than Eliwood was ordering around volunteers. Matthew had an almost supernatural talent for dodging jobs like this and Serra...well, they would all end up deaf before any work was done. Silence reigned between the two men for a few moments before Eliwood heard Hector's footsteps disappear into the distance.

Eliwood planned on apologizing for all of this later, but right now he simply wanted to get this over with. Hector was right after all, he did have other things he needed to do. As good of a friend as he could be, Hector had a talent for being stubborn and would only make this take longer with his teasing and coaxing. Digging a latrine needed to be done, and what kind of message did it send if he gave up after a few minutes and made someone else do it for him? The young lord refused to appear so weak.

Eliwood's musings were interrupted by a soft thud beside him, causing him to pause and look. Hector had returned, sans armor and lordly attire. Instead he wore a tunic much like Eliwood had on. Another shovel was slung over his shoulder, in the same way Hector held his axe. Despite his chagrin, the Ostian lord managed a friendly smile.

"Regardless of what you say, Eliwood, I still think it's ridiculous for you to be out here doing this. But since you insist on playing in the dirt I guess my only choice is to help you so you get it done faster." Eliwood grinned, remembering once again why Hector was such a good friend to have and returned to digging the trench with vigor. They completed the chore and hung the privacy tarps without any further interruptions.

It would be the last time either lord would have to dig latrines. Inspired by their actions, several other volunteers agreed to help and began taking turns on latrine duty. Something that did not go unnoticed by Eliwood, nor did he let it go without mentioning it to Hector.

Delegation has its place, but there was something to be said about leadership by example.


	2. Liasons

"I feel that our best chance of success is to approach this from two different angles. It will be best for me to travel along the southern side, if one of us is to be spotted better I than you as I will not raise as many question being seen over there. You are faster than me and have a smaller build, so you'll be far less likely to be spotted if you wait a minute or two to depart north after I go. And of course, should the worst happen and we are both found, we disavow all knowledge of each other. What do you think Fiora?"

The woman in question blinked a few times, looked down at the scrap of parchment in front of them, and looked up to meet Kent's eyes.

"Sorry...could you say that again? It's hard to hear you with your shirt off."

* * *

To Fiora's great shame, she had found herself in the company of Kent once again. It was shameful not for the fact their relationship had long since become an intimate one but rather because it made her a hypocrite. How many times had she scoffed at her sister-in-arms for a their lack of proper decorum when out in the field? How many times had she chastised those under her command for doing the very thing she was here doing herself? Too many to count for sure, although Fiora had little doubt that Farina could supply at least a rough estimate. Her dear sister was one of the worst of them and more than a few of their arguments revolved around her behavior.

It was precisely because of those arguments that Fiora could not, under any circumstance, let Farina find out about her...liaisons with the Caelin knight. It would be the absolute death of her. In her nightmares Fiora had already experienced what her sister would do. There would be pointing, and then laughter, followed by more pointing and a lewd comment inserted between breaths. The accusations of hypocrisy would begin after that, complete with a full retelling of their largest and worst fights. None of which Fiora would have any room to argue against. To hear her crimes was one thing, but having to admit that Farina was right would be even worse. And after all of that, when she had no sanity left to speak of, her sister would desecrate the very concept of dignity itself.

Farina would ask if Kent was good in bed.

A shiver shot down Farina's spine as she forced herself to think of other things. She refused to have her life dictated by her sister's actions, even though she was guilty of doing the same to her. Kent gave her a concerned look, having turned toward her again after getting fully dressed.

"Is something the matter Fiora?"

"No, not at all. Just remembering how important The Plan is." She smiled softly at him, happy to know he was there for her. Kent didn't even flinch when she described the issue of her sister finding out about them. In fact, Kent was relieved. He had a similar problem himself in the form of his good friend Sain. Nothing Fiora had learned in her brief interactions with him lead her to believe that he would be any less painful to deal with than Farina. That is why they had concocted The Plan. It was their code for the myriad of rules, strategies, and deceptions they maintained to achieve the absolute privacy their relationship called for.

Stick to The Plan, don't forget about The Plan, The Plan is paramount. It was their secret little way of expressing their support for one another.

"Shall we continue then?" Kent smiled in return and began explaining his idea again for how to exit the supply tent without arousing anyone's suspicion. It wouldn't do to meet in each other's tents, especially since they shared them with the very people they feared most finding out about them, so more unconventional locations were needed. Tonight it had been one of the tents tossed over supplies that were vulnerable to foul weather. Next time it would be somewhere else depending on where they made camp. They would decide with an elaborate system of notes, dead drops, and code words that could be dropped into casual conversation. Of course, having two people suddenly appear from a supply tent so late at night would raise suspicion so they had to be discreet in how they left.

Having listened to Kent's plan this time, Fiora found it to be acceptable and well thought out. His ability to plan ahead was among his more admirable traits and she herself couldn't resist the allure of having a fully fleshed out strategy to follow. Some small part of Fiora loved the thrill of keeping this secret. One more time she scoured the map to make sure everything was accounted for. Before she was finished, however, Fiora's brows furrowed.

"Wait...there's a problem."

"What is it?" Kent was already scanning the map again to see what he missed. Fiora saved him the trouble by pointing directly a tent marked with an 'M'.

"My route takes me past Matthew's tent, and you know he's a light sleeper. If he sees me..."

Kent's concern was already melting away as he turned behind himself to pull out a small pouch from his belongings. A slight sugary scent emanated from it as he handed off to Fiora. "If he sees you then you'll have his payment, as per our agreement. However that does remind me, would you be willing to lend me a hand fletching some arrows for Rebecca tomorrow evening?"

"Of course." Fiora tied the pouch to her belt, her own smile returning to her lips. Try as they may, they weren't perfect. Mistakes happened, errors were made, and on occasion the silence of others needed to be purchased. Matthew, naturally, was one of the few who figured out what was going on. Thankfully he was easily amused and even easier to pay off. Baked goods were enough to keep his lips sealed.

Now that everything truly was in order Fiora began to pick up her things and stood up. Kent did the same after he rolled up the map and tucked it into a pocket. It would need to be disposed of in a fire on his way back to his tent. Leaving evidence around waiting to be found was a recipe for disaster and he would have to make a new one later anyways when they set up camp again.

"Well Kent, it has been a pleasure. Thank you for the lovely evening." Not being skilled at saying goodbye, Fiora defaulted to formality. "I look forward to our next meeting."

"As do I, Fiora. I hope sleep finds you promptly and brings with it dreams of more peaceful times. I bid you farewell." The two shook hands and Kent opened a tent flap to walk out of. Fiora's eyes lingered on him as he walked away and felt a rush of heat spread into her cheeks as she thought about him. Kent wasn't the first foreign knight she met, but he had been the first to truly impress her. Dutiful, intelligent, respectful, and dependable. It was a rare combination to see these days. He was unlike so many others that had vied for her attention in the past.

...and it certainly didn't hurt that his pants hugged his perfect rear in the most delightful way possible.


End file.
